Commitments and Consequences

Chapter Five: Darling

Another victim, any street surveillance hadn't caught anything and this time the words on the bed read "If our sex life were determined by our first youthful experiments, most of the world would be doomed to celibacy" Rossi read aloud, turning to the boy genius "do I want to know the rest of that quote?" considering the already icky undertones to the extract.

Reid however sighed and completed "In no area of human experience are human beings more convinced that something better can be had only if they persevere."

The meaning of the quote made Derek feel sick to his stomach. If the kid was abused he felt sorry for him, him of all people knowing what it was like, but if this fucked up guy tried to touch Reid or make his life miserable one more moment all bets were off. Upon arriving the pair had explained their findings, from Spencer's jogged memory including Dayson's abuse by his teacher to just what that meant for the killer's motivation. Putting his phone on speaker Morgan asked "baby girl, did you find anything?"

"Our boy, Dayson Gail is off the grid, he left school, he worked moving around for his father for a year and then poof, vanished, no socials, bank statements or anything" she explained.

"Did the family file a missing person's report?"

"Ahead of you, and no, the mom died when Dayson was fifteen and the father had terminal cancer, he died six months after his son quit and the trail goes cold after that."

Then Spencer asked "what about Mr Richardson?"

"Mr Douchebag is alive and not so well as can be considering his ankle bracelet."

"Abusing boys I take it?" Derek assumed.

"How did you know? Three came forward to testify against him but only years after the fact, due to poor health, some kidney condition only Reid could pronounce, he has been allowed to stay in his home but is not allowed to travel far...which is a relief" she added trying to lighten the dark topic as much as possible.

Hotch considered everything they knew so far and gave out a new task "Blake and Morgan, I want you both to speak with Richardson, then I think Ross-"

"I should be there to interview Mr Richardson" Reid proposed and luckily Blake seemed to agree saying "it would be more effective to get him talking."

Derek determined that if Spencer was going to be within a mile of the creep that he be there too said "how about me and pretty boy go interview the pervert, Penelope can keep on searching for Gail."

"Alright, but don't do anything reckless."

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As Spencer and Derek sat on the private jet to Nevada despite all the space the pair sat side by side, neither spoke after an initial chat about strategy and details of the case. Even considering the bizarre fantasy scenario versus reality issues and both speculated the long term implication's of this unsub's delusions, if they were right about the unsub's goals depending on how successfully he could act out his fantasies it was likely Gail's world would look like his ideal when in reality he would kidnap and assault Reid, maybe eventually steal children - nothing was off the table when someone could face necessities around pulling off such a crime and yet be so out of touch with reality. And this was if Gail was successful, if at any point his efforts were to fail or not work out as hoped he would snap and devolve. Even if this case wasn't focused around Spencer this guy would be scary as hell to deal with.

But after the unpleasantries the mood lightened and calmed, just the accidental brush of arms and the odd soft glance held between them helping to forget the dangers of the day. Just spending a little, safe, while in the other's company. A subtle, gentle smile from Morgan reminded Spencer that things might just return to normal, however abnormal their normal might be, and of all things it helped him relax to the point of dozing.